


Two of Us

by doompatrol7



Series: Toph and Zuko [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canonical Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Zuko's Scar (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25888114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doompatrol7/pseuds/doompatrol7
Summary: Zuko and Toph have an emotional discussion, and in the process cement what they mean to each other.
Relationships: Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Toph and Zuko [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880689
Comments: 7
Kudos: 289





	Two of Us

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my fic 'Concerning Anger', but you don't need to read that to understand anything here.
> 
> Title taken from the Beatles song of the same name. Enjoy!

It had been a week since Toph decided to stay with Zuko.  
  
When the others left on Appa to make visits to Kyoshi Island and the Southern Water Tribe, they had offered to bring her along as well. 'Maybe she wanted to visit her parents? Maybe she just wanted to come along for the company?' were some of the general points touched on in that discussion. Aware of Zuko’s presence right behind her, she had said no almost immediately. The resulting gasp on his part brought a smile to her face.  
  
A deeply hidden neurotic part of her thought this was a gamble. By refusing to even consider visiting her parents and instead choosing to live with Zuko, was she just trading one gilded cage for another? She beat those thoughts down, reminding herself that she trusted Zuko much more than her parents. She would love living with him.  
  
And, of course, she did.  
  
It did have the pampering and fussing servants and other high-class bullshit that somewhat reminded her of her old home, but all of that was offset by two things. One was that, unlike when she lived with her parents, she could go and do whatever she wanted, as decreed by the Fire Lord himself.  
  
And that brought her to the other reason: Zuko himself. If she was being honest with herself, he was more family to her than anyone else she had ever met.  
  
As much as she loved Aang and Katara and Sokka and Suki, as much as she also considered them family, it was always Zuko who understood her the most. Aang and Sokka loved to talk and constantly move about doing things she often had little interest in, Katara had the tendency to baby her, and Suki… well, Suki was great but she went where the Kyoshi Warriors did.  
  
Sometimes, she and Zuko would have an entire meal or spar session without saying a word. Not because they didn’t want to speak to each other, but because there wasn’t anything that needed to be said. They were together, and that was enough. No talk, just action. Beauty in simplicity. Just as she liked it.  
  
She had to admit that simply being with him was what she looked forward to more than anything. He was often busy with meetings and paperwork and other such Fire Lord duties, but he always met up with her at least once a day.  
  
Today was different. She was disappointed that it was clearly one of his busier days, but she understood. As the Fire Lord, it was obvious that Zuko didn’t always have the time to do what he wanted, let alone what she wanted. It was when he didn’t show for dinner, which he so far had always done without fail, that she began to suspect something was up. The sun was lowering in the sky as the day grew closer to its end, and she was seriously wondering if he had eaten anything since it began.  
  
Sighing, she made her way to Zuko’s quarters, which weren’t far from her own. If he was in there, burying himself in paperwork instead of taking a minute to talk to her or even eat, she would have some choice words indeed.  
  
Standing outside the door, ignoring the questioning stares of the two guards posted there, she wiggled her toes on the marble floor as she felt what was going on inside. Zuko was pacing back and forth, heartbeat thumping uncontrollably. From his stance, she could tell he was slightly hunched over, hands gripping his hair. And, if that wasn’t enough, she could hear his heavy breathing without having to exert any of her senses.  
  
"How long has he been like this?" she asked the guards, crossing her arms.  
  
They both shuffled on their feet awkwardly. "Don't know, but it's been a good while..." one said, clearly concerned.  
  
"And you didn't think to do anything about it?!"  
  
"He gave us explicit orders not to bother him."  
  
"Of course he did..." she said with a groan. "I'm going in. Don't get in my way."  
  
They both nodded and moved away from the door, allowing her to do what she wanted. Naturally, she kicked the door open.  
  
“ _Sparky!_ What’s wrong?”  
  
He jumped and swiveled his head around so hard it looked like his neck would snap. “T-Toph!” he said, as if he had forgotten she was currently living in his own palace. “It’s… It’s nothing. Just normal Fire Lord stress!” The hysterical laugh he released right after did the exact opposite of placate her worries.  
  
She tilted her head. “I get that you’re always stressed, which you should _really_ work on, but your heartbeat hasn’t been this intense since the temple. Something’s up. Spill it.”  
  
With a sigh, Zuko went to sit on his bed. “I really don’t want to talk about it…”  
  
“I’m not going to force you to, but I want to make one thing clear. I’m worried about you. Got it?” she said, sadly aware that sometimes Zuko needed that clarification. Sitting next to him, she placed a hand on his arm. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you.”  
  
His entire body shuddered.  
  
“Thank you, Toph,” he muttered, voice wet with tears.  
  
Her grip on his arm tightened.  
  
“I suppose I owe you an explanation, eh?” he said, sniffling.  
  
“You don’t owe anyone anything.”  
  
“Wrong. I owe you so much, Toph. You and the others. If it wasn’t for you guys, then there’s no way I’d be where I am today.”  
  
“You sell yourself short, Sparky,” she said with a huff. “ _Way_ too short.”  
  
“Whatever,” he said, and she _hated_ how unconvinced he sounded. “You want to know what’s wrong, and I can't just ignore that. So… I’ll tell you.”  
  
She only nodded, not daring to say a word and risk interrupting him.  
  
“I was in yet another meeting. One of the officials there was at the Agni Kai, and he brought it up every moment he could. You know, ‘Any Fire Lord who would allow themselves to be burned is a disgrace!’ Stuff like that. At first I brushed it off, but eventually it just... it just got to me.” He sighed. “Since many of the higher ups in my father’s rule were there, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, but… I thought I had flushed all the problematic ones out. Guess not.”  
  
She had to admit, she was lost. “…Agni Kai? Isn’t that the thing where Azula shot you full of lightning?”  
  
His breathing hitched. “N-No, this one was different… You mean you don’t know? I thought everyone knew!”  
  
“No,” she said, beginning to feel uneasy. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
  
Silence reigned as, apparently, Toph not knowing about this shook Zuko to his very core. “Oh…” he finally said, a whisper so soft she barely heard it. “It’s just that everyone in the Fire Nation knows, and, obviously, you’re not Fire Nation. Shit, I’m so stupid!”  
  
“Hey, hey,” she said, rubbing his arm in what she hoped was a soothing manner. “You’re not stupid. Whatever this is, it sounds like something I _should’ve_ known. Can you tell me about it?”  
  
An audible gulp. “Yeah… Yeah, I think I can.”  
  
There was another moment of silence as Zuko braced himself. Toph followed suit, as the uneasiness within her had only grown. Whatever he was about to tell her, she knew it was going to be bad.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he began. “First off, an ‘Agni Kai’ is a Fire Nation tradition. The most basic way to explain it is to call it a firebending duel, but there’s a bit more to it than that. They aren’t terribly common, fought only after a challenge, and involve a lot of ceremony because they concern the matter of one’s honor.”  
  
Toph scoffed. “You guys sure care a lot about your honor, don’t you?”  
  
He seemed to appreciate the interruption, laughing softly. “Can’t disagree with you there. Our precious honor is what is at stake for the combatants. You lose, you disgrace yourself. You win, you retain your honor.”  
  
“So… you fought in another one before?”  
  
“Actually, I’ve fought in a couple.”  
  
She couldn’t stop her jaw from going slack. “Wow, Sparky! What’s your ratio?”  
  
“That’d… spoil the story a bit.”  
  
She grunted in understanding and motioned for him to go on.  
  
“Anyway, one day, when I was thirteen, my father was holding an important war meeting. I met Uncle outside of the entrance and asked him to let me attend. I was going to be the next Fire Lord, you know? I felt like I needed to start somewhere, and I wanted my father to see I had some initiative. He was always disappointed with me, you see. I was never as good at bending as Azula was, and it sometimes felt like that was all he cared about. I realize now that basically _was_ all he cared about. We weren’t his children, we were just little weapons meant to bend to his will. And-” He cut himself off. “Oh, sorry, I’m getting off track.”  
  
“ _Don’t_ apologize,” she blurted out with unintended anger. She had realized Ozai was abusive to Zuko quite a while ago, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out, but hearing it in his own words really drove home the reality of the situation.  
  
He was staring at her, surprised. “Uh, sure… But, back to what I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted,” he continued with a teasing nudge she didn’t return, “Uncle was reluctant, but agreed on the condition that I not say anything.” A sudden laugh caused her heart to skip a beat. “If only I listened…”  
  
She raised her hand from his arm to his shoulder and squeezed, pleased to feel some of the tension melt under her touch.  
  
“At first, I kept quiet as he requested. But then, this one general, don’t remember his name, proposed a plan. He wanted to use a unit of young, inexperienced recruits as a feint. While they were being slaughtered by Earth Kingdom forces, the real assault would come from behind and catch them by surprise. Needless to say, I was horrified.”  
  
“Yeah, no shit,” she muttered through gritted teeth, already outraged by whatever perversion of justice she knew was about to occur.  
  
“Being the idiotic, arrogant child that I was, I assumed my father agreed with me. And, as I already said, I wanted to impress him, to show initiative, to show that I could be a worthy successor one day. So, I did the one thing Uncle told me not to do. I spoke. More than spoke, I _yelled_. I told the general exactly what I thought of his plan, explained that the Fire Nation should care for its loyal citizens. In the brief silence afterwards, I realized that the assumption I had made beforehand was horribly wrong. My father never agreed with me. He wasn’t proud of what I had done, he was _furious_. The flames in front of the throne flared so hard they licked the ceiling. He said I had disrespected the war room and the general with my words, and so he ordered me to fight an Agni Kai.”  
  
“You were thirteen,” she said, teeth clenched so hard she thought they might chip. “ _Thirteen_. And your dad forces you to fight some experienced war general?!”  
  
He snorted. “Well, he was old and I thought I could take him, so I quickly accepted. Now, this was a big deal. The crown prince fighting a general, as ordered by the Fire Lord himself? Word spread quickly, and the arena our fight was to be held in was packed with members of Fire Nation high society. Azula was there. Uncle was there. Almost everybody was there. It was intimidating, but I refused to let it get to me. I entered the arena and went into the traditional pre-battle stance, where the combatants face away from each other. However, when I turned around to face my opponent, it wasn’t the general standing before me. It was…”  
  
Zuko’s entire body shook uncontrollably, and so she tightened her grip on his shoulder. She couldn’t tell if his body was making her hand shake, or if it was doing that on its own.  
  
“It was him. It was my father. He was the one I truly disrespected. He was the one I had to fight.”  
  
“ _Fuck_ ,” was all she said, and she hated herself for never having the right thing to say.  
  
Zuko must’ve been in his own world, as he didn’t appear to notice her reaction. “I knew I couldn’t fight him. I got on my hands and knees. I pleaded and I begged. He responded by grabbing my face and setting it on fire.”  
  
_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck._ Now she had no words. She felt like she was going to explode, and gripped his shoulder so hard her nails dug into the fabric of his robe.  
  
“I woke up days later on a boat, with the order that I was banished and couldn’t return home unless I captured the Avatar.”  
  
That did it. The building anger and tension within her demanded to be released, and she was happy to oblige. Leaping off the bed, she landed on the floor with enough force to shake the foundations of the palace itself. She vaguely realized Zuko said something, but didn’t really hear it. Now _she_ was in her own world, one made of the earth and a white-hot fury worthy of a thousand suns. With a scream, she stomped into the marble, marble she knew Ozai had stood upon many times, and reveled as it crumbled into dust under her feet. She raised her foot again and-  
  
Arms circled around her.  
  
“ _Toph!_ ”  
  
She blinked. That voice, so commanding yet so soft, managed to temper the rage that flared insider her.  
  
“It’s OK, Toph,” Zuko said, holding her close. “It’s OK.”  
  
She had to laugh. He was trying to comfort _her_ after all he just said? “No, Sparky, this is not OK. _None_ of this is OK! Why the fuck didn’t you tell me, tell _literally any of us?!_ ”  
  
“I-I assumed you already knew.”  
  
Oh. She had forgotten that part.  
  
“So, let me get this straight. When everyone hated your guts, when Katara responded to everything you said with an insult, and you just took it all without complaint… You thought that they knew all of that, that they knew why you did what you did?”  
  
“Um… yeah?”  
  
“You _dumbass!_ ” she exclaimed, returning his hug. “You fucking idiot! You complete dunderhead! You-“  
  
She burst into tears.  
  
“You… wonderful, amazing person,” she managed to get out through the sobs.  
  
He rubbed circles on her back, and she returned the favor. She could tell he was crying as well.  
  
“All of that… You didn’t deserve any of it,” she said with conviction. “Do you understand that?”  
  
“I do,” he said into her hair. “I understand that now. I didn’t before. I thought my father was in the right, that I deserved my punishment and my exile. For so much of my life, I thought I was a miserable failure and that capturing the Avatar was the only way to save myself. I was such a fool…”  
  
“ _No_ ,” she said. “You didn’t know any better. You were just a kid… Are _still_ a kid!”  
  
“And so are you.”  
  
“Yeah,” she said, wiping away tears as they pulled back from the hug. “I guess I am.”  
  
“We’re all kids,” Zuko said, voice mournful. “And reconstructing the entire world after a hundred years of war is on _our_ shoulders.”  
  
She scoffed, not entirely disagreeing but noticing how quick he was to draw attention away from himself. “Sure, there are many issues between us, but don’t try to change the subject, Sparky! Talk to me, dude. Whenever you want. That lifetime worth of shit you just unpacked couldn’t have been easy to deal with alone.”  
  
“…You’ve got that right,” he said as he released a sigh that had the weight of the world behind it. “I had Uncle, but I never really talked with him about it directly. I just… could never muster the courage to discuss it with anyone.”  
  
“So, I’m the first, eh? That honestly means a lot. Thank you, Zuko, for sharing all of that with me.”  
  
He sputtered, evidently confused by her sincerity. “N-No problem, Toph. It… actually feels great to let it all out.”  
  
“Glad to hear it.”  
  
They entered another one of their comfortable silences, and it was then she realized the state of the room. The marble floor was cracked throughout, and she and Zuko were standing in what was basically a shallow crater, her legs coated in a fine layer of dust. The door was wide open, a litany of concerned guards and servants gaping at them. If Zuko was bothered by any of this, she couldn’t sense it whatsoever.  
  
She rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “Uh, do you wanna go somewhere else?”  
  
“…Turtleduck pond?” he asked tentatively.  
  
“…Turtleduck pond.”  
  
…  
  
Zuko released a sigh as he sat on the edge of the pond, Toph right beside him. Closing his eyes, he let the warmth of the setting sun wash over him. This day had gone in a direction he never would've expected. He thought he would feel shame at baring his soul to Toph. She was tough. No nonsense. When he found out she didn’t know about the Agni Kai, he assumed she would consider him weak once he explained it all.  
  
Now he felt like a fool. Toph would never think he was weak. She understood him in way that no one else ever had. Well, except Uncle, but Uncle was _family_. The good, real kind of family, the kind of family that you were supposed to have, the kind of family he went without for so much of his life. Then again, he was beginning to see Toph and the others as that kind of family too. When it came to Toph specifically, today had only cemented that sentiment in his typically doubt-filled mind. If there was one friend in this world that he could trust more than anyone, it would be her.  
  
“Why do you love this place so much?” she asked, idly picking at her toes.  
  
“My mother always brought me here before she… left. Even now, it comforts me just as she did.”  
  
Toph was silent as she leaned back, tapping her feet on the soil that surrounded the pond. “I can’t feel what’s in that pond. But… this wet dirt between my toes does feel somewhat relaxing.”  
  
“See? There’s something for everyone.”  
  
She blew a raspberry. “Eh, I guess it’s kind of cool.”  
  
For some reason even he couldn’t discern, that set him off. He began to laugh hard, clutching his sides as they began to hurt. Toph chuckled, no doubt amused by his reaction.  
  
“You good, Sparky?”  
  
“Fine, fine,” he said as the laughter tapered off. “I’m just… really grateful you’re here with me.”  
  
“Well, I’m grateful _you’re_ here with _me_ ,” she replied with a grin.  
  
“Who is thanking who here?”  
  
“Does it really matter?”  
  
He realized then that she was right. It didn’t matter at all.  
  
“No, I suppose it doesn’t.” Reaching an arm around her smaller form, he pulled her in tight. “You’re really, truly staying here, right?”  
  
She leaned into his touch, resting her head on his chest. “Yup. No matter what happens, the two of us will stick together.”  
  
Gazing upon the sun kissed pond, he realized this was the most content he had felt in a long time. Maybe ever.  
  
“The two of us, huh? I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Author's Note:**

> I will be consuming and creating Toph and Zuko friendship content until the day I die, I swear. Thanks for reading!


End file.
